Automobile lock



H. T. THOMAS AUTOMOBILE LOCK Jan. 5, 1932.

Filed; Jan. 51, 1924 y g INVENTOR. Hmw 77M ATTORNEY.

Patented Jan; 5, 1932 near D STAT ES HORACE r. THOMAS, or LANSING, ivironraan AUTOMOBILE oc Application filed January 31,1924. Serial No. 692,544. 7

My invention relates to automobile locks.

and especially to a construction by which the ignition circuit is broken when the mechanism is locked.

The accompanying drawings show my invention in connection with the apparatus patented to me September 12th, 1922, by United States Letters Patent No. 1,428,720, in which drawings 79 Figure l is a sectional view of an apparatus embodying my invention and so much of said patented device as is necessary to illustrate its connection therewith.

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1,

' showing the iarts in the position they assume when the lock is engaged.

Figure 3 is a detailed sectional view on the line III, III, Figure 2.

a is the casing for the change-speed gear- 559 ing and ((-2 are the rods which shift the gears when operated by the gear shift lever which notshown. These rods are slotted on their adjacent sides at (43.

v is a vertically reciprocatin rod or locking plunger. Z) is a locking Tilade or bolt pivotally secured at its upper end to the lower end of the rod 0, and properly guided in its motion. 03 is a pedal on the upper end of the rod 0. 02 is a slot cut into the 39 rod 0 from one side thereof.

(Z is a bolt adapted to slide in ways at right angles to the bolt 0 which is pressed toward said bolt by a compression spring (Z3. Z2 is a slot in the upper surface of the bolt (Z.

6 is a lock casing screwed into an aperture above the bolt (Z. 62 is the rotatable cylindrical part of a pinlock in the casing e, having a lug 63 extending downward from its lower end and engaging in the slot (Z2 in the bolt (Z.

9 is a sleeve surrounding the rod 0 and adapted to turn about the axis of said rod. 92 is a shield which, at the unlocked position of the apparatus comes above the casing 0 covering the keyhole of the pinlock. This sleeve has an aperture 93, (Figure 3), which when turned so as toremove the shield 2 from above the casing 0, comes opposite the bolt (Z, and permits said bolt to engage the said rod 0 and enter the slot 02 when said a direction at right angles to the length of said bolt. f2 is a disc 'fitting'and adapted to'reciprocate in the bore of the cylinder 7b. to fat is a compression spring acting upon the disc f2 to force the same toward the upper end of the cylinder h. f is a contact piece extending through the upper end of the cylinderh and fastened at its lower end to the disc In the unlocked position of the bolt(Z,thecontact piece 7 is forced into en gagement withthe surface of said bolt by the spring fat, as illustrated in'Figure 1.

(Z4 a slot in the lower surface of the 'fi. bolt (Z;v In the position of the parts shown in Figure 2, in which the bolt 5 is engaged with the shifting rods (Z2 to lock the changespeed gear in neutral position, the bolt (Z is forced forward engaging in the slot 02, 7:? andiholding the bolt '6 engaged in the slots a3; yIn this position of the bolt (Z the slot (Z4 comes just above the con act piece f and said. contact piece enters said slot without touching the walls. thereof, its motion beso ing limited by the disc )2 engaging the upper. end of thecylinder h.

f3 is a conductor forming a part of the ignition circuit. This conductor is con nected electrically and mechanically to the disc f2 and contact piece lVhen the bolt (Z is in its engaged position and the contact piece f enters the slot (Z4 without touching the walls thereof, as shown in Figure 2, the ignition circuit is broken. 90

The operation of the above described device is as follows:

When it is desired to lockthe automobile the change-speed gear is thrown into neutral with the slots Q in the shifting rods 5 opposite each other. The shield 92 is removed from over the casing e and turned degrees, which brings the slot 93 of the sleeve 9 opposite the bolt (Z. The spring (Z3 then forces the bolt (Z forward, engaging I in said slot and in the slot 02 and holding the rod 0 at the lower end of its travel, with the bolt 6 engaged in the slots a3 of the gear shifting rods a2. At this position the slot d comes just above the contact piece which removes the bolt from contact with the contact piece fand breaks the ignition circuit. When it is desired to unlock the mechanism, a key is inserted in the slot of the pinlock and the cylinder 62 is rotated, the lug e3 engaging the wall of the slot (12 and forcing the bolt d out of the slot 02 and aperture g3 in the sleeve g. This brings the surface of the bolt d into contact with the point f and completes the ignition circuit. The shield 92 may now be rotated to the position shown in Figure 1 in which the Wall of the sleeve is interposed between the bolt (Z and the plunger 0 holding said bolt in its retracted position with the circuit closed, which is the running position of the parts.

What I claim is:

1. In an ap JHIHUIS of the kind described, the combination of a gear shifting rod, a plunger adapted to reciprocate to engage with and disengage from said rod, a bolt adapted to reciprocate to engage said plunger to hold it in engagement with said rod, an ignition circuit including said bolt, and a contact point so located in the ignition circuit that it shall engage said bolt to complete the circuit when said bolt is disengaged from said plunger and shall be out of engagement with said bolt to break said circuit when said bolt engages said plunger.

2. In an apparatus of the kind described having an ignition circuit, the combination of a gear shifting rod having a slot therein, a plunger provided with a slot adapted to reciprocate to enter the slot in said rod to lock the same and to withdraw from the same, a bolt adapted to reciprocate to engage in the slot in the plunger and withdraw from the same, and means whereby the engagement of said bolt shall break the ignition circuit.

In testimony whereof, I sign this specification.

HORACE T. THOMAS 

